Contract Income
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This section is about contract income.
Policy
Contract income is a specified amount of money paid to a participant based on a binding agreement with an employer. The wages received are considered contract income when the agreement identifies that the employment is for a specific project or a designated period.
When the agreement does not identify a specific project or designated period of employment, see Wages and Salaries.
Contract income is countable as earned income.
Countable income is used to determine an income budget. (See Income Budgeting to see how FAA determines the income budget.) FAA needs to know about income that is both countable and not countable to determine whether a budgetary unit’s income is exceeding their expenses. (See Income Eligibility for more information about how FAA uses countable and not countable income.)
Verification
The participant has the primary responsibility for providing verification. (See Participant Responsibilities – Providing Verification for additional policy.)
For NA, income is required to be verified for all of the following before eligibility is determined:
●When reported on a new application, during the interview of a new application, or changes reported before the eligibility determination of a new application.
●For changes reported after an eligibility determination of a new application (e.g., a renewal application, mid approval contact, etc.) and any of the following apply:
The source of the income has changed.
The income is questionable(g) or unclear(g).
The reported income amount has changed by $51 or more.
The previous verification in the case file is more than 59 calendar days(g) old.
For CA, all income is required to be verified before determining eligibility.
Examples of verification that can be used for contract income include, and are not limited to, any of the following:
●A copy of the contract
NOTE When a contract does not provide enough information, the participant or employer needs to provide clarification.
●Collateral contact with the employer
Contract income verification has to include all of the following:
●Name of the employer or source of income
●Contract employee's name.
●Period the contract is intended to cover.
●Period the employee is expected to work.
●The amount of income the contract pays a participant.
●Frequency in which the income is paid.
●Whether the contract is the participant’s primary source of income.
●Whether the contract income represents the participant’s annual income.
When contract income is received hourly or on a piecework(g) rate, other sources of verification may be needed, including, and not limited to, any of the following:
●Paystubs
●Employer's printout
Legal Authorities
7 CFR 273.10(c)(3)
last revised 10/27/2025 effective 09/02/2025